AÂ fault with the signalling system between Gatwick Airport and Purley means trains have to run at reduced speed on some lines towards London. Train services running through these stations may be cancelled, delayed by up to 10 minutes or revised. Disruption is expected until 14:15.
Customer Advice
Delays of around 10 minutes are possible in the Horley area, due to a fault with the signalling system. This is affecting northbound services towards East Croydon and central London.
In addition, London-bound trains will not be stopping at Horley or Salfords until further notice.
If you are at Horley or Salfords and require a London-bound service, you should instead take the next service to Gatwick Airport and change there for a London-bound train.
If you are on a London-bound service and wish to alight at either Horley or Salfords, you should stay on the train until Earlswood or Redhill and change there for a service back to your destination.
Alternatively, and for local journeys between Horley and Earlswood, you can use your ticket for no extra cost on Metrobus services between Three Bridges, Gatwick Airport, Horley, Salfords, Earlswood and Redhill.
Tickets will also be accepted on any alternative Southern or Thameslink service between Gatwick Airport and London.
For all other journeys, you can travel using your normal route, but please allow some extra time and check before you travel.
You can check if your journey will be affected using the live route map here.Â
Can you tell me more about the incident?Â
In this particular situation the fault has been confirmed as a 'Track Circuit Failure'. This means the signalling system is unable to automatically verify if the next section of track past the affected signal is clear.Â
The rail network is designed so that if a signal stops working, trains will stop before they reach it. Whilst this issue is ongoing, train crew will stop at the affected signal and contact the signalling centre to confirm their location. At this point the signaller will verbally authorise the driver to continue towards the next signal. This process adds time to every trainâs journey, which means services can experience short delays.
In this case, trains are unable to use the "fast" northbound line towards London in the Horley area. All London-bound trains will instead be running using the "slow" northbound line. To prevent congestion-based delays, trains that would usually stop Horley and Earlswood (in the London-bound direction) will no longer be calling at these stations.
Check before you travel:
You can check your journey using the National Rail Enquiries real-time Journey Planner
Compensation:
You may be entitled to compensation if you experience a delay in completing your journey today. Please keep your train ticket and make a note of your journey, as both will be required to support any claim.